Tides of Time
by Ukaisha
Summary: Temporary Hiatus; undergoing rewrite.
1. Interception

Disclaimer: Puppeh is in no way claiming ownership of Digimon Frontier. This is just a nifty parody of what MIGHT have happened xD'  
Warnings: ...I have no idea. Possible minor cursing (Nothing worse then 'damn'.) and...uh...that's probably it...oh gods, one warning for this story? -Eyetwitch- That's...never happened to Puppeh before.  
Ever. Oh gods.

Okay. Breathe Puppeh. Breathe. Breathe.

A/N: Here it is! That elusive Tides of Time that I've been mentioning since like, January. -Bow- By the way, if your just tuning in, I thank you very much for coming to read the story x3 I promise it'll be good. I can't promise I'll update often, I seem to have problems with that.  
Remember that episode where Takuya was suddenly Flamon, and he made a decision to stop himself from ever going to the Digital World? You have to wonder; what if he'd succeeded?  
This'll be a short story, I promise. I won't turn it into a 30-chapter oh-my-fudging-GODS this is a long story. Shouldn't be more then six chapters at best.  
I'm not sure whether or not this'll become a shounen-ai story...the way I'm thinking it now, it's probably not going to have any yaoi undertones. It wouldn't fit the story. If you want some shounen-ai or yaoi, go read my other fics x3 There may be possible hinted shounen-ai in there somewhere.  
By the way, this story might be more based off of the english dub of the episode rather then the original japanese; I unfortunately haven't seen that episode yet. Curses.

Thanks again.  
Chu.

Tides of Time  
_Interception_

Takuya watched himself dash out of his house, hopping a bit as he struggled to finish pulling on his sneaker without slowing down, and run down the empty street. He watched himself talking to his cellphone, staring at the screen, and randomly pushing the buttons in hopes of communicating with the strange voice on the other side. He watched himself sweating and panting as he ran along the pavement, skidding and making gravel fly as he turned corners and occasionally sped up.  
Takuya, currently now Flamon, was trailing him as nearly as he dared. Sprinting across the tops of buildings, (He prayed that the families below didn't hear a strange 'thump' as he landed on their roofs) leaping from the tops of a sparce tree population, (Hoping that no one thought it was strange for twenty or thirty leaves to suddenly tumble from the branches) and occasionally bouncing off the tops of parked cars, (Though he regrettably noticed clawmarks in the roofs of these as he leapt off of them.)  
There, he was running down the last avenue, past the little boy and his father playing soccer. He could catch himself when he saw himself stop to kick their ball back. At the time he'd done it, he'd almost regretted it, for it nearly cost him his life. Now he was praising his kindness, for it gave Flamon a chance to catch up with his past and to halt his journey.

Flamon had made up his mind, indefinately. He was stopping himself from ever getting on the train to the Digital World, stopping himself before he completely messed up everyone's lives from his bad judgement. Not even Duskmon, stalking him ever since he'd come back to the real world, would deter him from his goal. He HAD to stay away from the Digital World, or he'd be the one who destroyed it. He had to go back, he had to go _home. _And there was nothing that would stop him.  
There. He was running after the soccer ball. He crouched down, readying himself, and sprung up into the air. His heart leapt into his throat every single time he'd done this, (he was not such a nimble Digimon when he was Agnimon, _that's_ for sure.) and still landed perfectly. With barely any noise, he was suddenly behind himself. Flamon watched himself as he stopped the soccer ball. His breathing was ridiculously shallow; it seemed impossible that these forced, tiny breaths could support his galloping heart. Takuya turned around and gave a strong kick, sending the ball shooting across the shadowy pavement and towards the father and son. A second later, Takuya was staring into himself, gaping and almost losing his balance at the sudden creature in front of him.  
"Don't go."  
Shocked, Takuya stared at the orange-haired creature in front of him, backing away a little as it spoke to him, and then started at the sound of a carhorn. He gasped at an uncoming truck, coming directly at him. He was frozen, he couldn't move. He was suddenly burning hot, scorching hot, unbelievably seethingly hot. He felt something darken his vision. It was shadowy, it was cold, it was hot. What the hell... He felt himself being tackled from the side, and skidding on the hot pavement as the truck began to attempt to swerve around him.  
"DON'T GO!"  
Takuya hid his eyes with his arms. The thing was on top of him, shielding him from the dust and gravel that was flying up as the wheels came to a complete stop. Suddenly, the weight was gone. Not gone, as in jumped away, but gone, as in simply vanished into thin air. He looked up, and saw nothing. There was no indication that anything had ever been in the road other then him. He was shaking and again he felt freezing cold, despite the warmth of the late afternoon. He stared at the spot, where he'd been merely seconds before. Two huge tire streaks marked it. A strip of his shorts was stuck under one of the huge tires.

"You okay!" The driver yelled the second he opened his door, preparing to leap out of it in case he wasn't.  
All in all, Takuya was fine. He was bleeding a little bit on his arm, where he'd skid, and his clothes were a bit ratty and a little tattered, but he was otherwise unhurt. He looked up at the driver, and to the father and son at the side of the road; the father with his cell phone out and the boy clinging to his father in fear.  
"I-I'm fine!" He yelled to the driver, loud enough for the duo on the side to hear. "I'm alright..."  
The driver jumped out of his truck anyway, and kneeled down to help pick Takuya up. He pulled him up with ease and brushed off the dust and gravel on this shirt.  
"I'm really, really, really sorry. But you just jumped out into the middle of the road, and there was just no time-- I didn't have any warning, and I was on my cell phone-"  
Cell phone. Where was his cell phone?  
He looked around for it, suddenly spotting it shining on the ground. There, it was fine. Nothing wrong with it. That may be a tiny crack in the screen, but certainly nothing was wrong with it. He checked his inbox for the strange message, but for some reason, it wasn't there.  
The driver was watching him oddly. "Somethin' wrong? Is your phone broken?"  
Takuya played around with it a little more, furrowing his brow as he looked for the message. Nope, not there. Nope, not that. Voicemail? No. Not there. Where the hell was that message?  
Gone? But he hadn't deleted it...  
Takuya looked up at the drive again, exasperated. "No. And you know...don't worry about it. I was just in a rush."

The driver sighed in relief that nothing had been hurt and no harm had been done. "Well, once again, I'm really sorry, just be more careful next time, alright?"  
Takuya nodded absently. He suddenly found himself looking around the streets for something, but for some reason, he couldn't remember what he was looking for. Something that happened a second ago, right?  
"I have to get back to my route now." The driver stared strangely at Takuya. "You sure your alright?"  
Takuya shrugged, and pocketed his cell phone. "Sure, no problem."  
"Do you need a quick ride home?"  
Didn't he have somewhere to go? Something had stopped him. He was going to go somewhere a second ago; surely he hadn't run at full speed down several blocks and almost got himself run over just to retrieve a ball that went out a bit too far in the street. Damn, he was going _somewhere..._Wasn't he?  
Takuya was definately supposed to be going somewhere. He knew that much. But the rest...he couldn't remember. Something had stopped him, some orange haired thing?  
"Nah, it's alright. I'll just walk back home."

* * *

"Tadaima!" Takuya yelled as he entered his home, pulling off his sneakers. Weird, when he left, he was so sure he needed to get them on immediately and leave somewhere. Some_where?  
_"Okaeri nasai." His mother responded distractedly. He found her in the kitchen, putting away some of the birthday supplies that had covered the table before he'd left. She left the cake, but the rest was going in the fridge or in the pantry. She wasn't doing a neat job of it either, both being too irritated and distracted to notice where she was putting things.  
"...Tou-san's not coming home?"  
"No." She replied, sounding very cross. "He says he's too busy to come home right now. He'll be home too late for Shinya to be eating cake, so depending on what he decides we'll either be celebrating just the three of us, or tomorrow."  
Takuya looked around for his little brother. The twerp was no where to be seen, and even his toys and manga that were strewn all over the place had disappeared.  
"...He's disappointed, isn't he?"  
His mother suddenly paused. She didn't move for a moment, and as Takuya edged his body a little, he could see she was crying.  
"Why does he always have to do this? Gods, he can for once just leave that stupid job and come to see his sons once in a while."  
Takuya shuffled his feet a little. Sure, his father was busy, but he had a job. He was of course going to be too busy for some things. Besides, he wasn't ALWAYS busy. He'd come to his last birthday, for a few minutes.  
His cell phone rung. His heart jumped and he excitedly felt around for which pocket it was in. He'd suddenly remembered that for some reason, his cell phone was important. Takuya _had_ to answer this call! He grabbed it out of his pocket and accepted the call, when he checked it, it had not only stopped ringing, but there was no indication that it had ever rung. Again, he repeated the procedure of looking through the whole damn phone for a message, and it wasn't there.  
"Miss a call?" His mother asked quietly.  
Thank gods, at least he wasn't going crazy. "...It's not from Tou-san, if that's what your thinking." He continued looking through it. "As a matter of fact, it's not from anyone." He finally just sighed and stopped looking. He checked the time real quick, 6:01. Why did that time seem so omnious? His mother wiped her tears off of her face with the back of her hand, and looked over her shoulder at him. Takuya started as she gasped loudly. "...TAKUYA. What in the hell happened to your clothes?"  
"Oh. That. Yeah, I have a perfectly good explaination for that."  
"You'd better."  
"I almost got run over by a truck?"  
"NANI?" 

.  
..  
...  
..  
.

Takuya rolled over in his bed and sighed loudly. It was way too hot in here, and this damn bed was making him uncomfortable. Unaware of his brother's discomfort, Shinya was sleeping beneath him in the bottom bunk, dreaming fitfully. He'd decided not to bother eating the cake tonight; they would celebrate his birthday tomorrow. Tou-san had gotten home a little while ago, much to his mother's irritation. He heard them quibbling quietly for several minutes, and then nothing. The lights went off, and he heard them going to bed.  
He'd almost completely forgotten what had happened to him this afternoon. As far as his memory could recall, he just so happened to be walking by a father and son playing soccer, saw them kick the ball into the street, and ran to get it for them. Then, when a truck came, he dodged it. This was the scene that he was replaying, over and over and over again in his mind...but something was just bugging him. It seemed wrong. That entire memory just seemed to be patched and frayed, and somehow it felt like it was roughly put together just so that he wouldn't ask questions.  
And for some reason, his cell phone was very important.  
But every single time Takuya almost remembered something, he suddenly lost the memory, and began groping for it again.  
He squirmed to the other side of his bed, hoping to find a cooler spot.

Why was he even over there? It felt like he was running to the train station...but for what? He didn't have to take a train anywhere. In anyway, why would he even want to be going to the train station? He hadn't brought any money with him. Certainly if he planned on leaving somewhere, and on a train especially, he would've taken money. Not to mention, that late in the day, his mother wouldn't have let him ride _anywhere_ on a train. So, that scenario was checked off.  
Takuya rolled over in his bed again and kicked away his deep red blanket. Man, he was way too hot. It felt more like he was on fire then laying on cool sheets. It shouldn't be this hot in the night time. He tried to find a better spot to continue thinking about...gods, what was he even thinking about? What the hell was wrong with his memory? He finally sighed again and began peeling off the top of his pajamas, when he suddenly felt cold. The coolness was subtle at first, but then, it was utterly completely arctic.  
Takuya sat up in bed, trying to comprehend the sudden change in temperature, when he realized that it was steadily getting darker. The lighted city outside his window was beginning to fade, and in it's place, nothing but shadows and darkness was in existance. It was so dark, it was so cold, gods he could barely see. Even Shinya's small nightlight had suddenly vanished, but before it did, Takuya caught himself expelling a chilling puff of breath.  
Gods no. Something was moving. Something was moving in the darkness. He couldn't see it, he couldn't hear it. He knew it was there. It was an instinctual, secondary feeling of fear that sent adrenaline pumping through his veins. The temperature was dropping. Takuya wasn't just shaking, everything about his body was palpitating. He grasped for his warm blankets, trying to warm himself, but it was no use. The coldness was just biting through the material, and it was gnawing at his bones. He felt eyes looking at him. So many eyes, a dozen eyes, all of them crimson and menacing. He saw a predatory urge in those dark, evil eyes.

Takuya was struggling to breathe, his breath stolen by cold and fear. He felt something hard and sharp against his throat. It pushed and forced itself against the soft skin, pressuring the vein it found. It felt so solid, it was there, it HAD to be there. Then suddenly, nothing. The lights returned. Shinya's night light was as bright as it had ever been, as if it had never gone out.  
The city beyond his window was as bright and beautiful; the white pinpricks of light in the sky still twinkling faithfully. It was warm again. Not nearly as warm as it had been, but, it was warm. He saw one last tiny puff of his breath, and then nothing.

Takuya rubbed his throat tenderly. It was not bleeding, not was it even scratched. There was no bruise, there was nothing to indicate that anything had been pressing against his jugular vein so hard it began to cut off his breathing. He suddenly gave a nonconsensual moan, hiding his face in his hands and making small, pitiful noises.  
Gods, what was happening to him?

* * *

"TAKUYA. Takuya, wake up, you've over-slept again!"  
Takuya blinked repeatedly to adjust his sensitive eyes to the bright sunshine, then rolled over to avoid his nagging mother and her consistant urging to get him out of bed.  
"Takuya, it's time for you to get up, dear. Wake up."  
His arm fell over his eyes to further ignore her. Man, he was so tired...  
"Nii-san!" His bed jumped as his little brother leapt onto it from their ladder, and then jumped onto him. "Nii-san, wake up! Guess what day it is!"  
Takuya groaned and opened one eye to stare at his wild-haired little brother, perky and eager for his Nii-san to wake up. Wow, he sure was happy today for some reason...  
"Your hair's all messed up."  
"So's your's, Prince Charming." Shinya replied, sticking his tongue out. He began bouncing on the bed, or as much as he could without banging his head against the low ceiling, much to their mothers distress. "Guess what day it is!"  
"Time to leave Takuya alone and to let him sleep."  
"Baka, that response only works for when someone asks you what time it is!"  
"It's 'Let-Takuya-Sleep-In-Day'."  
"_Every_ day must be 'Let-Takuya-Sleep-In-Day'." Remarked their mother, as she finally managed to stop Shinya from bouncing. ("Kaa-saaan, it really isn't dangerous!") "It's past eleven o'clock, well past time for you to stop acknowledging 'Let-Takuya-Sleep-In-Day.' Besides, it's your brother's special day." 

...It was his what?  
"Nii-san, it's my birthday today!" Shinya cheered, shoving a fist in the air triumphantly. "You'd better go get me a present if you forgot, or I'll have to take advantage of my status as the birthday boy!"  
Takuya jerked out of his half-asleep daze. Shinya was so unprepared for the movement that he fell back, and only by grabbing onto Takuya's weighted blanket did he stop himself from falling backwards and toppling off of the bed.  
"JESUS TAKUYA! Be careful! He could've broken his neck!"  
"Gomennasai." He apologized hastily, then grabbed his little brother's shoulders and shook him gently. "What day is it? Tell me again, what day is it?"  
Shinya stared wide-eyed at his brother, his lip quivering just a little bit. "It's my birthday, Nii-san. Don't worry if you forgot... just say 'Happy Birthday', and that's alright."

What the hell was going on?

* * *

1)Tadaima: I'm home, usually paired with his mother's response: Welcome back. 


	2. Properties of Instinct

Disclaimer: Puppeh is in no way claiming ownership of Digimon Frontier. Just pretend for the next couple of paragraphs that she does.  
Warnings: Just a little 'bad' language.

A/N: Oi, I'm loving this story, even though it's alot shorter then what I usually write. Can't wait to keep experimenting with this concept for the next few chapters. Sorry this particular chapter is so long. It just...happened. Guess I wanted all of this to just happen in one chapter.  
Thanks so much for any reviews x3 Reviews make me feel all fuzzeh inside. Now, for the record, some of the stuff in this story may be a wee bit confusing for the first few chapters. I promise, I'll explain it all to you in the chapters coming. Some of the stuff in this CHAPTER may make no sense. Again, it'll be perfectly clear sometime later. If when I finish the story you don't understand, (Or you just want a break-down of what's happened in chapters already posted.) PM me and I'll give you a long, breathy explaination.  
By the way, if your really smart, you may figure out what's going on before I even get to the end. If you do figure it out, kindly keep it to yourself until the last chapter. I like to maintain the illusion that I am clever.

Tides of Time  
_Properties of Instinct_

2:28.  
Damnit.  
2:30.  
Damnit.  
2:33.  
_Damnit.  
_2:37.  
_Damnit!_  
2:41.  
DAMN IT.

Takuya was sure that time was purposely moving slow for him, simply because he was waiting for something. It was trying to spite him. Oh, that evil, evil clock, trying to make him go insane. As if he weren't already pondering his sanity. He'd have kicked that damn clock if he hadn't been afraid he'd be unable to tell the time afterwards. He'd sit for a few minutes, playing his game, then look at the clock, swear when he saw only three or four minutes had elapsed, and would continue waiting.  
Time was important too, for some reason. For some reason he was _waiting for a certain time._ But what time was he waiting for? For all he knew, it could've been 2:37, (But it wasn't.) or it could've been 2:41, (But it wasn't.) Or it could be 2:45. (Which, as he glared at the clock and swore again, it wasn't.)

Not even Soul Caliber II was keeping his mind off of the clock. And that usually could destroy the concept of time itself for him. Time was usually nonexistant when it came to Soul Caliber.  
But it wasn't.  
2:47.  
Oh, god damnit.

He just fell back onto his floor and lay there. This waiting was giving him a headache. He was starting to see those digitalized green numbers in his head now. Those evil blocky numbers.  
Shinya's repeated birthday was giving him a headache. _Again _his mother argued with his father over the phone, warning him that he'd better come home early today to celebrate Shinya's birthday. The table was set exactly as it was the day before, the only difference being that the cake was still in the oven. Exactly the same cake as yesterday. Exactly the same everything as yesterday. Which was today. Which made today yesterday's tomorrow, even though it was still yesterday. Which was just...impossible. And made no sense.  
2:51.  
Takuya wondered if he could just kick the clock anyway to release some irritation, and whether it would be fixed tomorrow.

Or today. The today of tomorrow. And the next day after that, which could possibly also be this day.  
Crap, what if the rest of his life, he had to celebrate this one particular day? Every single day would be the same exact thing. Gods that would be annoying. Every single day.  
2:53.  
He couldn't take this anymore, he had to get out of here.  
Takuya shivered as he stood up, a bone splitting chill running down his spine. Gods no, not again. It was cold. Freezing cold. Chilling, arctic blizzard cold. And dark, evil shadows piling up on him again; it was devouring the light in the room. The outline of an eye was slowly becoming visible in the steadily developing darkness...the same predatory eye. Eyes. There were more of them, three of them, five of them, _eight of them. _Menacing, floating eyes. He could just barely detect harsh breathing. A growl. Something long, something crooked, something blood red. It was rushing towards him. The darkness was almost complete. Takuya nearly felt his clammy hands becoming dusted with frost.  
It wanted him.  
It wanted to kill him. He felt pure evil pulsing from the eyes that were staring so eagerly at him. They wanted to see his blood.  
For a split second, he was frozen to the floor, terrified and staring at the evil eyes and blood red thing rushing towards him. Then he scrambled to the door and ran out of his room, tripping over himself and other things in his way until he was out in the kitchen where Shinya was reading the same manga as before on the floor. The darkness was gone. It was warm. Neither Shinya nor his mother noticed anything strange. He leaned over and rested his hands on his knees, panting and shaking.  
"Daijoubou?" His mother asked distractedly as she checked the cake in the over.  
"Eh..."  
"Alright."  
Takuya leaned against the wall next to Shinya for a moment, then allowed his legs to slowly collasp. He clutched at his heart, which may as well been a block of ice that could vibrate. Damn. That was creepy. That was creepy...nonsensical, improbable, random-  
"You okay, Nii-san?" Shinya asked, attempting to sound a little concerned as he realized his brother was apparently in shock.  
The elder brunette expelled a shakey sigh. "Eh..."  
"Alrighty." The younger turned a page, suddenly unconcerned.  
Takuya looked at the clock.  
3:02.  
Damn it.

* * *

He was sitting in the exact same seat as he was yesterday. Shinya was still reading his manga. His father had just called again, to inform his mother that he would not be able to come home. The cake was on the table. Very, very tempting cake...very delicious frosting covered cake of sugary goodness that was so yummy...  
"Takuya." His mother warned as he stuck a finger in the frosting.  
Eh. Didn't work yesterday, wouldn't work today. Yesterday. Which was today. Which was the yesterday today.  
Man, that was confusing.  
He rubbed his fourhead. This wasn't working.  
Quick glance at the clock. 5:35. He was growing increasingly edgy. And he had no idea why. There had been no strange visits by any strange eyes, or anything else for that matter. (He was starting to suspect that he wasn't alone yesterday with the truck...but he couldn't be certain.)  
5:36.  
His cell phone was extremely important. He was definately sure about that now. He stared at it obsessively, waiting for it to do something.  
He wouldn't have been surprised if an alien popped out of the screen. 

But it didn't. Nothing. Just a quiet, silent cell phone.  
"Any particular reason your staring at your phone, Nii-san?" Shinya inquired.  
"Mind your own business."  
"Man, are you a grouch today."  
5:39.  
_Something_ had to happen today. He was sure of it. Something was definately going to happen.  
5:40.  
He tensed as he picked up his cell phone and stared even more intently at the screen. Any second now. Something was going to happen.  
5:41.  
Nothing.  
5:42.  
"Do something damn you!" Takuya yelled at his phone.  
"Watch your language, Takuya."  
"You need to press the buttons first, Nii-san. Even I know that."  
5:43.  
He was getting even more edgy. This was wrong. This was so wrong. He knew something was going to happen with his cell phone, he could feel it. He just had to be patient.  
5:44.  
Come on, come on, COME ON. He gritted his teeth and glared daggers at the screen. It had to happen now. It had to happen NOW.  
5:45.

He collasped back into his chair, completely defeated. Whatever was supposed to happen had failed him. His phone was suddenly completely unimportant. Nothing had happened. For some reason, that time was just a cut-off point.  
5:47.  
Takuya sighed. He felt like he'd missed something, but how did he miss something if he was never informed of it? It wasn't his fault, if something was 'supposed' to happen, it would've happened. Somehow, he felt like there was something else that needed to be done...  
5:49.  
Stupid, stupid cell phone.  
"Kaa-san. I'm going out for a bit."  
"Alright. Be careful." His mother said, apparently beginning to prepare dinner. She didn't say a second thing about almost being run over by trucks, or give a hinting threat to avoid streets, nothing.  
He almost wondered if she even realized she almost lost her son to a truck yesterday. Or did that not happen yesterday either? Today?  
Is that it? Was he sent back in time to avoid almost being run over by a truck?  
That made no sense. Why send him back to not be run over when he was originally never hit in the first place?  
Damn trivial time travel.  
Was this even time travel?  
Gods, who knew.  
Was he even almost hit by a truck yesterday, or did he almost get run over in a dream?  
Gods. He didn't remember.  
5:52.  
He was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of urgency to get somewhere. He pulled on his sneakers as fast as he could, and suddenly flooded with dread and deja vu, ran down the street.

* * *

5:55. Something very omnious about that time, all three numbers being the same. Three minutes and he was nearly at the intersection where he almost met the truck. The boy and his father were no longer there. A tan cat was sulking along the sidewalk and pouncing on the odd scattered leaves, but otherwise, there was no one else to be seen.  
He reached the intersection.  
There weren't even black marks where the tires had skid before.  
He KNEW they should've been there. He was sure. He remembered his terror at seeing the skidmarks over the very spot his body would've been had he not successfully dodged.  
He continued running.  
5:58.  
Kami-sama. He had to be somewhere. He had to. If he wasn't...  
If he wasn't...  
Who knew.  
This urgency was accelerating his legs for him. Takuya scarcely felt the harsh pangs beating throughout his legs as he struggled to run as fast as he could. It provided an interminable supply of energy that he fed off of, and exhaustion was nonexistant. He HAD to be...to be...  
To the train station. That's where he needed to be. He HAD to be there.  
5:59.  
No. No. No. He was going to miss it. He should have started earlier! What made him sit there for so long? He was running. His phone didn't tell the time in seconds, but he was painfully aware of the seconds ticking away. What was it? 5:59:40? 5:59:52? Was it almost too late?  
He was in the train station. Running as hard and fast as he could. He wasn't going to make it, he wasn't even nearly close enough to where he needed to be...still running.  
He looked again. 6:00. _GODS HE HAD TO MOVE. Movemovemovemovemovemove. _He was struggling to keep up with the frantic pace this desperate urge was pushing him at. Move. Move. Move. He HAD to be somewhere.  
Skid on the tile. Ran faster. Where was he even going? Didn't matter. Had to run, had to run-  
He looked at the clock again.  
6:01.  
His heart was crushed at the time, and his legs suddenly collasped under him. The inexhaustable energy he was feeding from had been exhausted, and suddenly the force was completely being sucked from him. He held himself up by his shaking arms, panting and gasping to try and restore the air to his lungs. His legs were jelly and he may as well just faint right there. He almost felt like sobbing in anger. He missed it.  
Takuya squeaked as he head was hit by a large briefcase. Itai...at least he could get out of the walkway. He crawled over to a wall and sat against it, still huffing and attempting to breath normally again.  
Crap. He missed it. No matter what it is he missed, he had missed it.  
Damn cell phone.  
He was so hot...burning, scorching hot. He panted and struggled to keep himself cool, but nothing he did seemed to keep him from burning up.  
So...hot. He was dizzy. Could hardly move...just had to sit right there for a little while. Just sit there and pray the heat went away.  
6:04. Why even bother checking? The time meant nothing to him now. The urgency was suddenly completely gone. There was no dedication to go anywhere. He may as well be anywhere in the world.  
Takuya sat there, trying to be as small as possible and to avoid being stepped on.  
6:06. Why was he bothering? Time didn't matter.  
6:09.  
6:11. It didn't, right?  
6:13.  
Sigh.  
6:15.  
He had to get out of there. He couldn't stand being in this place anymore, it was just depressing him. He wiped off his shorts and dabbed his sweaty fourhead with his sleeve. The heatwave had passed. 

Takuya stretched. As he was walking slowly and lazily back home, he began musing on the happenings of the past few minutes. Suddenly without a crazy inner conscious obsession pushing him, he was thinking clearly and logically. He realized he didn't even have any money; what good was trying to get a train if he had no money? Besides, he'd left in such a hurry, how could he have even known what train to buy? Sure, 'Go to train station' was a pretty basic command, but with over a dozen of possible locations to purchase, how could he be expected to make a choice?  
He felt ridiculous for running so desperately to make a deadline he wasn't even aware of. Instinct? Instinct for what? What did it matter to his future if he went on a train or not?  
If it really was that important, then Jesus, provide him with some direction. With his luck he'd end up getting train ticket to some remote village in Europe.  
He crashed into someone.  
Dead on collision, neither of them paying much attention to where they were walking. Both stumbled and swore quietly, then blushed as they each believed the collision to be his fault.  
"Gomen nasai." Takuya hastened to apologize.  
"Gomen nasai, sumimasen, gomen nasai." The other hastened just as quickly, running off a string of apologies as if the world would simply end as if his mistake was not properly recognized.  
Takuya rubbed his neck and grinned. "Nah, it was my fault. I wasn't paying attention."  
The other boy seemed very embarassed. His very pale skin was beaming with pink, the effect which was amplified by his dark, raven hair. Very shy blue eyes peeked out, even though his head was down. "Neither was I..." He said very quietly. "So it's just as much my fault." He looked around. "Have you seen my hat? I think it flew off."  
A little glance of the ground turned up a light blue hat, which Takuya handed to the boy.  
"Arigatou." He accepted the hat and fit it on his head, pulling it down just a little bit to hide his face a little more.  
"...Er, I'm Takuya." The brunette introduced himself.  
"...Kimura Kouichi." He bowed. "Hajimemashite."  
Takuya waved it off, "Don't have to be so polite. I'm too tired to care."  
For a second, Takuya had the feeling that Kouichi was staring very intently at him. But when he went to look him in the eye, Kouichi was looking no harder at him then he was at anyone else.  
They both realized they were going to walk in the same general direction, so they continued walking together, if only to be walking with someone. Kouichi was too quiet and too shy to be much of a conversationalist, and Takuya was still too tired to properly say anything. Not to mention, Takuya couldn't find a decent way to make a conversation out of how he was somehow repeating yesterday today.

"So, why are you so tired?" Kouichi inquired quietly as Takuya began to drag his feet. Man, his calves were so sore. It was as if someone had taken a really freakin' blunt object and beat his legs again, and again, and again, and again-  
"Just...thought I had to be somewhere." Damnit. That came out weird. If he was going to not mention the repetition of a day, he had to stop being so obvious.  
"Thought you had to be somewhere?" he asked quizzically. "You mean you didn't know whether or not you had to be somewhere?"  
Takuya glared and pouted at the boy, who suddenly was quiet. "It's stupid. Don't worry about it."  
Wow, he was making friends today. Pissed off his brother, pissing off this guy...  
Silence.  
"Were you meeting someone?"  
"Is it any of your business?" snapped Takuya. Wow, overprotective today.  
"...I don't know. I can't remember."  
"What kind of an answer is that?"  
Kouichi shrugged.  
More silence. Very awkward silence. He had the feeling that Kouichi wanted to leave.  
"Where do you live, anyway? Near here?"  
Kouichi shook his head. "Sendagaya."  
Takuya gaped. "That's like, an hour's walk from here! Why didn't you take the train home?"  
Kouichi pulled his hat a little lower over his face. "I don't have any money left; with me, I mean."  
"Call your Kaa-san on your cell phone."  
Quiet. "I don't have one."  
Ah. Well. Duh, or he'd have called her already. He _did_ mean that he didn't have a cell phone, not a Kaa-san, right? "I'm sorry, but I don't have any money for a train."  
"And you were still running to a train station?"  
Duh. Another stupid thing to say. How'd he keep getting himself into these situations? He was starting to sound like a jerk. "Well, I have a really weird reason for that..."  
"Don't you have a cell phone?"  
"...What? Oh, oh yeah! I do. Duh, I've been obsessing with it all day, how'd I forget about that..." He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Kouichi, who took it gratefully with a shy smile. "I wasn't really looking forward to walking..." He began dialing, but his smile fell and his brow furrowed. "Takuya-kun, it's not recieving a signal?"  
"Eh?" Sure enough, it wasn't. He played around with it for a minute, actually stopping in their walk to fiddle with it, and grew increasingly irritated when he realized it wasn't working.  
"Damn thing! It's like it's totally frozen! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid cell phone..." he sighed. "Maybe it really did get broken yesterday. Today. GOD DAMNIT I CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT. TODAY'S YESTERDAY'S TOMORROW OF TODAY. GAH!" And he ruffled his hair in aggravation, much to the confusion of Kouichi.  
...Who was staring at him strangely. "...It's okay, don't worry about it."  
Awkward. "Just...please ignore that entire..."  
"No problem."  
More stupid things he can't help saying. Damnit...how could his stupid cell phone be broken now? It worked perfectly fine all today, until just now, when he really needed it. Useless cell phone. He nearly threw it on the ground in frustration, but instead, pocketed it. There was still a faint piece of knowledge in his brain that in someway, it was important.  
Right, an old broken cell phone was important. Whatever.

"How did it get broken?" Kouichi dared to continue, though Takuya could see this was really strained conversation from the boy.  
"Now why are you so curious?"  
"Why are you?"  
Takuya realized that until now, he'd been the one asking alot of questions. The comment embarassed him a little, and so that ended that for another few minutes. Takuya turned down a street, and Kouichi stood at the corner for a moment, prepared to pass on the opposite side, then continued to follow Takuya.  
Huh. Weird. Now that he thought about it...Kouichi was following him like a chick to it's mother hen. And in some very strange reason, Takuya was relieved that the boy was sticking around. Perhaps it was that good ol' instinct speaking (knowing how _useful_ it had been so far), but he felt like Kouichi was very important to something; and it was something just as important. Just like this damn cell phone...  
"You aren't actually going to walk home, are you?"  
"I walk alot of places, so I'm in shape. Sometimes I can't afford the bus home-" he broke off very abrubtly, apparently hoping Takuya wouldn't make a comment about it.  
"Your going to walk for a hour to get home?"  
"Maybe."  
"Why are you even out here anyway?"  
Kouichi shrugged. "Just...needed to meet someone."  
"Someone?"  
"Yeah...it's kind of weird to explain."  
"Who?"  
"Now why are you so curious?"  
Takuya recognized his own words, and finally just gave up trying. He felt a biting chill on the back of his neck, but only for a split second. He looked over his shoulder to see if the eyes were following him...but nothing was there. Kouichi looked for a second too, then ignored it.  
They reached Takuya's house. He paused in front of it and left Kouichi still walking, before he realized that Takuya had purposely stopped because it was where he lived. He blushed and turned to face him again. Huh, he seemed to do alot of blushing.  
"...I guess I'll just see you, then."  
Takuya shrugged and put his hands behind his head. "Want to come in for a few minutes? I'm sorry about my cell, but if I can make it up to you, you can call your Kaa-san inside.  
Kouichi was again very visibly grateful. He thanked Takuya several times and then apologized for being any trouble, then went thanking him again and eventually started to apologize for thanking him so much and thanking him for accepting his apologies.

A short time later, Takuya was starting to feel bad again, as Kouichi just couldn't seem to reach his mother. He tried twice, and had failed. Both times he had sat down at the table with Takuya, trying to avoid being asked questions. Apparently, Takuya mused, he was just a very private person. He had begun to get up and try again, when Takuya's own mother began to get concerned.  
"Your welcome to stay for dinner, Kimura-kun." Takuya's mother reassured Kouichi as he again tried to call his Kaa-san. "I cooked enough for four, and as my husband won't be here, there's plenty for you."  
"I really appreciate that." He said, as if from another world, still holding the phone to his ear. "But I'd hate to impose." His eyes kept sliding over to Takuya, who was sitting boredly at the table again, watching Shinya try to trace a pose from a character in his manga. Only once did Takuya catch his eyes, and immediately they were withdrawn.  
Kouichi finally sighed and hung up the phone again. The third time in eleven minutes he'd tried to call his mother, and again, unsuccessful. Once at home, once at her work, once again at home, and she couldn't be reached anywhere. "She just...must really be busy." He explained. "She...kind of has to work alot."  
"I already told you not to touch that cake, Takuya."  
Takuya grumbled and licked the frosting he'd managed to get on one finger.  
His mother was washing her hands, still talking over her shoulder. "Really, your not imposing at all. Takuya doesn't often have his friends over, and maybe with four we can get a decent chunk out of that birthday cake while it's still fresh. If you like, your welcome to stay the night, and I can escort you home myself tomorrow."  
Kouichi sat down again and sighed as he rearranged his hands in his lap. "That's very, very kind of you. I really appreciate your hospitality."  
The brunette's mother beamed, delighted by such a flattering and polite boy.  
Takuya rolled his eyes and glanced at the clock. 7:02. He hadn't gotten a strange vibe in an hour. He felt no strange urges to go somewhere. He was finally going to eat that damn tempting cake that he'd be yearning to eat for two days now. Hopefully, this would turn out to be a very normal evening. With that cake. That lovely cake. Oh, that beautiful cake.  
"Takuya, if I have to tell you again not to touch that cake-"  
"I'm not touching it, jeeze." he licked his finger again. Damn cake, seducing him and all.

* * *

"Ne, Takuya-kun?" Kouichi called up from Shinya's bottom of the bunk. Not having been awakened, Takuya leaned over the edge and glanced down immediately. Shinya grudgingly agreed to sleep elsewhere for the night, but only because Takuya had allowed him to get the biggest slice of the cake, which Takuya quietly described to Kouichi as 'orgasmic'. (Much to Kouichi's deep embarassment and speechlessness.) His main reason was the very fact that Kouichi was still primarily a stranger. The darkness didn't seem to want to bother him when he was around a stranger, but when it came to his family, it openly assaulted him. As much as he hated to admit it, he was frightened of the darkness. He noticed with keen precision every time the night seemed to become colder, or deeper then before. So far, no real incident...but still, his gut instinct was telling him that he should be wary.  
"Whatcha need?"  
"...Can you be totally honest with me about just one thing?" Kouichi said very quietly. "I mean, like, not joking and to just be pretty serious about it."  
Takuya shrugged, then realized Kouichi couldn't really see the movement. "Uh, sure. As long as you don't ask me about anything in my closet, I'm good for just about any answer."  
"In your closet? What's in your closet?" he asked, actually confused and concerned, not catching the sarcasm.  
"I told you not to ask, didn't I?"  
Kouichi blushed, silently grateful to the darkness for his covering his flushed face. "It's just...have you ever had a feeling of deja vu?"  
Very strange comment. A little chill went up his spine, and he leaned further down from the top bunk, struggling to look at Kouichi to make sure he was still there. Something in his mind...it was bugging him. "That depends on what your talking about."  
"You know, like, sort of feeling that you've been somewhere before-"  
"I know what deju vu means."  
Kouichi flushed again."Gomen ne."  
" I mean, how specific are we getting?"  
The shyer boy paused. "Specific?"  
"Like, feeling you've met someone before, feeling you've had a similar conversation before, feeling like you've been somewhere before," he stopped for a moment, wondering if he should even add the last part, "feeling like you've had the exact same day before..." 

Kouichi said nothing. Takuya didn't prompt for an answer, and after a few minutes he simply slid back into his bed. He sighed. Well, that wasn't much help at all. The brunette supposed it didn't matter; if the day respun itself again as he was expecting, Kouichi would not be there in the morning. Shinya would be sleeping in his bed, it would be his birthday again, and he would oversleep again with a feeling of paranoia.  
He tensed up. Did that mean he'd go through the same episode of the darkness again, regardless of Kouichi being in the room?  
Takuya looked around his room. It didn't seem any darker then before, but he hadn't been paying attention...  
"Takuya-kun?" Kouichi asked again in a very small voice.  
The brunette sighed again. "Eh?" he said, this time a little peeved.  
"Have you ever...you know. Felt like for some reason, you've just repeated a day you've already lived?"  
Takuya was numb for a moment, then smiled wryly. "Yesterday is today and today is yesterday's tomorrow even though tomorrow's yesterday is today, right?"  
"...Nani?" Kouichi said, again very confused.


End file.
